Lindsay started work in fisheries in 1975 as a commercial fisherman in Queensland, trolling for Spanish mackerel and gillnetting barramundi. After seven years, he was recruited by the South Pacific Commission (SPC) to work as a Masterfisherman, conducting fishing surveys for deep-water snappers, constructing and deploying FADs, and experimenting with new gears to target tuna.

Lindsay has a graduate diploma in fishing technology from the Australian Maritime College, where he lectured for one year after graduation. He then moved on to Canberra where he worked for the Bureau of Resource Sciences, co-ordinating a feasibility study on trolling for albacore tuna off south-eastern Australia.

In 1993, Lindsay was employed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, where he worked for several years as the manager of the Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) Fishery and the West Coast Tuna Fishery, and was involved in international negotiations on SBT quota and Japanese bilateral fishing access to Australia. Lindsay has worked as SPC's Fisheries Development Adviser since July 1996, providing assistance and guidance to fisheries departments in the region on domestic offshore fisheries development, and managing the Fisheries Development Section.

Lindsay commenced his new position as the Coastal Fisheries Programme Manager on 1 October 2005, while continuing to manage the Fisheries Development Section. In his new role he will focus on the strategic direction for the Programme in line with the directions set by member countries and territories.